Bump in the Road.

I can now cross two things off of my to-do list: get robbed at gun-point and fall off a moving vehicle.
The latter incident took place last night (but had nothing to do with a latter). Girlfriendo and I were riding back from Pitchfork. We had seen the tail end of Broken Social Scene before the entirety of Modest Mouse. Why did I buy tickets? Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. From that day on, though, the anticipation of going to the show grew less and less until I was genuinely disinterested in the prospect. This was exacerbated by my last-minute trip to SummerFest, which features Modest Mouse.
Back on topic. So after the show we found Vivian and decided to hang out at the same place: Big Star. Those plans fell through with Danny's hesitation towards going to Wicker Park. "Small Bar [on Fullerton] it is!" we decided. Here's where it gets interesting: Girlfriendo and I had driven my scooter down to Washington Park. Having to go to Southport and Fullerton, the obvious route was Ashland all the way. At Cortland, though, I decided to turn and take "Danny's Shortcut," which is the street that runs on the east end of Finkl & Sons and empties into Southport at its northern outlet. I had taken this route once before (in broad daylight) and didn't remember anything being particularly dangerous. Poor foresight, I guess, as this street has train tracks to compound the hazardous potholes and uneven surfaces that are normal aspects of most other streets in Chicago. What got me was the platform that holds the train tracks. There seems to be three levels of instability on this street: the actual street isn't too bad, but that eventually ends and one is forced to merge onto what I will call the train track platform. Once there, You have the option of crossing over the train tracks or simply standing your ground. I didn't make it tat far, though. When I decided to drift onto the platform I was heading for something that wasn't quite a bump, but wasn't quite a curb. The mistake I made was merging. I should have made a blatant turn towards this half-curb instead of drifting into it. Well, regardless of what I should have done, the curb thing rejected the maneuver I tried. My wheel was angled about 40 degrees to the left and was pushed so far off course that it ended up at about 40 degrees to the right. Not being able to react in time, Girlfriendo, the bike, and I slid to the right and across the pavement.
Having never been in a real accident before, I wasn't sure how to react. I remembered what Chris Jackson did when he was in the train wreck at 43rd street a few years back: he checked how everyone else was. So I asked Girlfriendo if she was okay and we noticed that we were both about equally scraped and bruised but, otherwise, okay. The only real lingering concern I have is my neck. She says hers also hurts; I'm thinking it must be some kind of whiplash but I have yet to ask anybody who might know. I have a minor headache that coffee hasn't been able to cure and my neck is stiff and sore.